If ExpressVPN isn’t working on Firestick, don’t panic. Your Firestick isn’t faulty. ExpressVPN has had all of its servers blocked by the streaming service you’re trying to watch.
The good news is this can be easily fixed. All you need to do is follow the steps below to use a VPN on your Firestick again.
If you want to know why this has happened and how you can prevent it from happening again, read on to the end of the article.
See also:
- How to watch Hulu on Firestick outside the US
- VPN not working with Hulu on your Firestick? Try these EASY fixes
ExpressVPN not working on Firestick: Fixes
To fix ExpressVPN not working on Firestick, try these fixes in order. If one doesn’t work, move onto the next one until you can use your Firestick with a VPN again.
Clean your Firestick cache/data
Cleaning your cache is essentially the “turn it off and turn it on again” solution for your Firestick apps.
If ExpressVPN has stopped working with your Firestick, the app may have run into an error that can be resolved by restarting the app.
Cleaning your cache will restore ExpressVPN to its factory settings. This could fix the error that’s making ExpressVPN not work.
Change to a different protocol
VPNs use different protocols. These are a set of rules that the VPN follows when providing you with an anonymous internet connection.
Some of these protocols prioritise security, while others prioritise speed.
ExpressVPN might not be working on Firestick because the protocol is no longer providing you with a secure connection.
Change to a different protocol and see if that resolves the issue.
Reinstall ExpressVPN
While this isn’t the most glamourous solution, if it works, it works.
Reinstalling ExpressVPN will give you a fresh install of the app, and any errors your current installation may have, could potentially be resolved.
Change to a different server
If ExpressVPN has suddenly stopped working on your Firestick, the service you’re trying to watch has probably blocked the IP address Express has given you.
Changing to a different server will give you a different IP address, and if that one hasn’t been blocked, ExpressVPN will work with your Firestick again.
Upgrade to a better VPN
If you’ve made it this far on the list, unfortunately, the service you’re trying to access with ExpressVPN has identified and blocked all the IP addresses ExpressVPN can provide.
This has happened because Express is no longer staying one step ahead of the service’s VPN blocking techniques.
You can do one of two things from here: you can either wait for ExpressVPN to release IPs that haven’t been blocked. Or you can upgrade to a VPN that won’t run into these issues.
This isn’t a great solution because it could take a long time for ExpressVPN to get more IP addresses.
The easiest and best way to fix this issue is to upgrade to a better VPN.
Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) has measures in place to get around VPN blocking techniques used by streaming services. Not only does it have a large amount of IP addresses, meaning you will have less chance of sharing an IP address with other customers, its also capable of staying ahead of streaming service VPN blocks.
Why has ExpressVPN stopped working on Firestick?
The reason ExpressVPN has stopped working on your Firestick is because all of its IP addresses have been blocked by the streaming service you’re connecting to.
Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max constantly try to block ExpressVPN from accessing its service. It does this to avoid potential copyright and licensing issues.
Using a VPN could potentially result in these streaming services breaching the geo-based broadcast agreements they have with their content partners. These breaches could result in severe financial repercussions.
These repercussions are why streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more, block ExpressVPN.
How do streaming services block ExpressVPN?
Streaming services cannot block ExpressVPN entirely, only the IP addresses it provides.
They do this by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address.
ExpressVPN is an incredibly popular VPN and because of this it has more customers than IP addresses. This discrepancy results in customers being forced to share IP addresses.
Normally, only a household of devices will share the same IP address (around 8-10 connections). When a streaming service identifies hundreds or thousands of connections coming from the same IP address, it knows that this is an IP that ExpressVPN has provided and it blocks it.
Over time the streaming service is able to identify all of the IP addresses ExpressVPN can provide. And it’ll no longer work on your Firestick.
Do VPNs still work on Firestick?
The VPNs that still work on Firestick are the ones that have measures to get around the streaming service’s VPN blocks.
The best VPN for Firestick is Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
This VPN plays a game of cat and mouse with streaming services. When an IP address provided by this VPN is blocked, Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) will close that IP and open a new one.
This will allow you to consistently use a VPN with your Firestick without problems.
